ByLaila Kearney, ReutersJanuary 16, 2016

A nearly five-month-old giant panda made his public debut on Saturday at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, where he mostly slept through visits by dozens of tourists eager for a first glimpse at the pudgy cub.

Bei Bei was born on Aug. 22 to the zoo's Mei Xiang, one of the top tourist draws in the US capital. The panda exhibit had been closed to the public since the birth in order to give the mother and cub time to bond, zoo officials said.

Laurie Thompson, the zoo's panda biologist, carried Bei Bei from a small enclosure to the roomier Panda House, which is filled with bamboo and toys, early on Saturday for public viewing. The interaction, in which a sleepy Bei Bei curled into a ball on the ground upon being placed in the exhibit, could be seen in a video posted to social media.

What appeared to be hundreds of visitors, some dressed in panda costumes, lined up outside the zoo for viewing. They could be heard cheering and shrieking with excitement when doors opened at 9 a.m. local time. Viewing will end at 4 p.m., the zoo said in a statement.